NY State Senate Bill 2015-S2758

Senate Bill S2758

2015-2016 Legislative Session

Provides for enhanced enforcement of the warranty of habitability for housing accommodations

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 06, 2016	referred to judiciary
Jan 29, 2015	referred to judiciary

2015-S2758 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6750
Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Real Property Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §235-b, RP L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S5474, A6842
2017-2018: S3618, A6256
2019-2020: S4794, A6266
2021-2022: S5070, A5546
2023-2024: S6010, A2042

2015-S2758 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides for enhanced enforcement of the warranty of habitability for housing accommodations; provides court may award punitive damages to a tenant upon finding the landlord's breach of warranty was intentional and malicious.

2015-S2758 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S2758

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the real property law, in relation to
enforcement of the warranty of habitability

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The purpose of this bill is to amend the Real Property Law by granting
the courts discretion to award punitive damages in cases where the
warranty of habitability is breached intentionally or with conscious
disregard to severe risks to the life, health, or safety of the
tenant.

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

This bill is to amend the Real Property Law by granting the courts
discretion to award punitive damages in cases where the warranty of
habitability is breached intentionally or with conscious. disregard to
severe risks to the life, health, or safety of the tenant.

JUSTIFICATION:

Although the courts have awarded punitive damages for breach of the
warranty of habitability in certain egregious cases, the circumstances
in which punitive damages may be granted are defined solely with
respect to specific fact patterns addressed in existing decisional

law. Without a clear statutory mandate to award punitive damages in
egregious cases where the warranty is breached, the courts may be
reluctant to extend the application of existing case law, even in
cases where doing so may be merited for deterrence purposes.

This bill would remedy that problem by declaring that the policy of
the State of New York is to deter intentional violations of the
warranty of habitability through awards of punitive damages when
necessary. Accordingly, this bill would amend section 235-b of the
Real Property Law by adding a new subdivision to the warranty of
habitability statute. The new subdivision would grant courts the
authority to issue punitive damage awards as a matter of law in cases
where the warranty is breached intentionally or with a conscious
disregard for the life, health, or safety of the tenant. By officially
sanctioning the use of punitive damage awards as for deterrence
purposes in egregious cases, this bill enables courts to award such
damages with the imprimitur of the legislature rather than on the
solely analogical and sometimes speculative basis of existing case
law.

In doing so, this bill would both codify and expand the bases for
awards of punitive awards under existing decisional law. The cases
currently recognize intentional violations of the warranty as a basis
for punitive damages (See Minjak Co., v. Randolph, 140 A.D.2d 245; 528
N.Y.S.2d 554, 1st Dept 1988), but there is no clear basis in case law
for awarding such damages in cases where conclusive evidence of an
intentional breach is lacking, even though the landlord may have
consciously disregarded severe risk to the health and safety of the
tenants. In those cases, this bill would place such damage awards
within the sound discretion of the court and would provide a clear
articulation of the legislative purpose for authorizing such awards.


PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2013-14: S.5474 - referred to judicial
A.5662 - 2009

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

This bill would take effect on the ninetieth day after becoming law.

2015-S2758 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2758

                       2015-2016 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 29, 2015
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary

AN ACT to amend the real property law, in relation to enforcement of the
  warranty of habitability

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Legislative  findings and purpose. The legislature hereby
finds that the rental housing market in the state of New York remains in
a state of crisis, due not only to severe shortages in the stock of safe
and affordable housing but also to the state  of  disrepair  and  blight
that  afflicts rental housing opportunities available to people of lower
incomes throughout the state. The legislature  further  finds  that  the
warranty of habitability set forth in section 235-b of the real property
law  represents a critical safeguard of the health and safety of tenants
across the state of New York by requiring that all rental housing accom-
modations be maintained  in  a  safe  and  sanitary  condition  for  the
tenants; that enforcement efforts by the several agencies of the city of
New  York  and the state of New York, although often successful, are not
always sufficient to deter such breaches of the warranty by such  owners
and  landlords,  so  that  in  spite of the protections provided by law,
every year many tenants in the state of New  York  must  endure  housing
conditions  that  fail to meet the basic standards of safety required by
law. In light of the foregoing, the legislature hereby  finds  that  the
state of New York must adopt additional measures to deter the most egre-
gious  breaches  of  the  warranty  of habitability set forth in section
235-b of the real property law, and that the codification of law  award-
ing  punitive  damages to tenants who suffer intentional breaches of the
warranty is an appropriate method to realize such a purpose. The  legis-
lature therefore enacts the following law granting the courts discretion
to  award  punitive  damages in cases where the warranty of habitability
set forth in section 235-b of the real property law is  breached  inten-

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06879-01-5

S. 2758                             2

tionally  or  with  conscious  disregard  to  severe  risks to the life,
health, or safety of the tenant.
  S 2. Section 235-b of the real property law is amended by adding a new
subdivision 4 to read as follows:
  4.  THE  COURT MAY AWARD PUNITIVE DAMAGES TO THE TENANT UPON A FINDING
THAT THE LANDLORD'S BREACH OF THE WARRANTY SET FORTH IN THIS SECTION WAS
INTENTIONAL AND MALICIOUS  OR  DEMONSTRATES  A  CONSCIOUS  DISREGARD  OF
SEVERE RISKS TO THE LIFE, HEALTH, OR SAFETY OF THE TENANT.
  S  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
have become a law.

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